Ivanov stated that although Russia and Uzbekistan were engaged in an active multilevel political dialog and implementing large joint energy, innovation, space and education projects, in his opinion, this was not enough, RBC reported.

He added that the intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation and the economic forum he was taking part in would foster the achievement of full potential of the Russian-Uzbek relations.

In turn, Uzbekistan’s Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyev said that trade between the two countries expanded 3.5 times to US$3 billion over the past 5 years, and was expected to top US$4 billion in 2007. Uzbekistan views Russia as an important trade partner and looks to expand trade in the coming years.